Question about exposure

[lb399]

Hi Terri,
Awhile back I (female) had protected sex with a man who later informed me he had HSV2. We used protection but there was a moment when his penis touched my vulva for maybe 3 seconds. There was no rubbing or anything and it truly was a matter of seconds. He didn’t have symptoms at the time but I am unsure if there was prodromal or if he was asymptomatically shedding obviously.Does that pose a risk for transmission?

Later there was a moment where his penis touched by hipbone without a condom while we were making out but I had on underwear. Would that pose a risk? I did not have a cut or anything on the area it was touching.

I’m planning on getting tested either way but I was just looking for some answers about how high risk the encounter was. Can herpes spread through a brief touch when there are no symptoms present or does it require some friction?

Thank you!

[Terri Warren]

The kind of contact that you’ve described with this man has no real risk of transmission – way too brief, not the right kind of contact at all. And the skin of your hip bone is way too thick for virus to penetrate. I think you might be overestimating the likelihood of transmission in this situation so it’s good that you asked. I don’t recommend testing in your situation

Terri

[lb399]

Thank you Terri. We did have sex using a condom. At first, I was worried because I read that condoms only reduce transmission by about 30 percent. But then I read somewhere else that for male to female it’s closer to 96 percent. Could you clarify which is more accurate? I

[Terri Warren]

Condoms reduce transmission from males to females by 96%

Terri

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